iphoto and .rwl files?

[Kyffin]

Hi there, I was wondering if anyone is using iphoto to process .rwl files- I appreciate that people working in leica raw here may be using something more sophisticated than iphoto but I'm new to pp and would appreciate any tips that would let me get decent images from what I have before committing to more advanced software from the start.

Particularly, I'm having difficulty in replicating the colours and sharpness of the images that the camera's jpeg converter puts out- while it would be a fair waste of effort & disk space to try to match these- I'm wondering if there's something I'm missing (practice?) or whether the software isn't as geared to this proprietary file format?

Thank you!

 

[spinnerlys]

Has Leica shipped any software with the camera that you could use to work with Leica's own format?

 

[Kyffin]

thank you

Yes they did, although I bought my camera preowned (with disk- although already registered). It's my first proper camera and I'm thrilled with it but unfortunately I hadn't factored that into account (and havn't the time at the moment to get into the ap/ps/cap1 decision) so am trying to make do with what I have.
I suppose I could give the capture one month trial a go- have you used it?

 

[spinnerlys]

Yes they did, although I bought my camera preowned (with disk- although already registered). It's my first proper camera and I'm thrilled with it but unfortunately I hadn't factored that into account (and havn't the time at the moment to get into the ap/ps/cap1 decision) so am trying to make do with what I have.
I suppose I could give the capture one month trial a go- have you used it?

I don't know what "capture" is, but Apple's Aperture has a 30-day trial, as does Adobe LightRoom, which I use due to better integration with Photoshop (one can drag a RAW directly from LR to PS without prior conversion, but Aperture does not allow that and wants to transcode it to something else first).

 

[Kyffin]

Ah, thanks for the information- this is all something to be looking at (must finish thesis first though)- just to make clear CaptureOne is by Phaseone and is the raw converter that leica used to ship before lightroom.

Thank you though, I'll definitely bear in mind your tip about workflow- from the little I know of the photoshop/aperture choice I gather its worth serious throught about.

 

[Designer Dale]

Probably Capture One. It's a RAW editor.

Dale

Edit: Sorry for the double info. I'm a bit slow today...

 

[Kyffin]

I've heard its latest incarnation (v5 Pro) is v. good for output but what I'd be looking to do with my photo's at the moment (organisation and a bit of pp) I'm quite interested in Aperture+Nik combo- although I'll be considering the Photoshop route very carefully when the time comes.

I guess iphoto isn't the best option for working with raw files then!

 

[Designer Dale]

That combo of Aperture3 and the NIK plug-ins would be a killer. I have PhotoShop CS3 and used it as my RAW editor when I still worked out of iPhoto. Don't use it much at all since moving over to A3.

Note: There is only one regular here who uses the Capture One software. Most of us are either Aperture or Lightroom folks.

Dale

 

[Kyffin]

Thanks for the heads up! I've only really just started and am learning a lot-so its great to be able to read up and ask advice, cheers!

 

[Kyffin]

...one can drag a RAW directly from LR to PS without prior conversion, but Aperture does not allow that and wants to transcode it to something else first).

^Thank you for that very valuable information- I hadn't realised that iphoto won't "release" RAW files once imported, and I'm very glad to know now rather than any later down the line.

Just on the off chance that someone's interested I had a look for another RAW processor and found on nemeng.com that Hasselblad's 'phocus' is free and available for download (from the Hasselblad site)- and it allows the export of 16bit .TIFF's (amongst others).

Although I don't think it compensates for third-party noise and lens barrel distortion (quick look and a read of manual makes me think not) it does have some very useful features and I think I prefer it to iphoto for that sort of work- its a lot snappier and I'm getting better results already.

Pretty sure it wont be applicable to many on here but I think its well worth mentioning for people with iphoto looking to work with RAW. /2p